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In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts in the SpaceX Dragon capsule lift off from the International Space Station on Monday, November 8, 2021,
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JAKARTA — A SpaceX cargo ship carrying science cargo left the space station Thursday (21/12/2023) and returned to Earth. SpaceX’s Dragon robotic spacecraft lowered from the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday (21/12/2023) at 17.05 EST (22.05 GMT), as the two spacecraft flew over the southwestern coast of Chile.
If all goes according to plan, Dragon will land on Friday (12/22/2023) morning off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, NASA officials said. Splashdown will not be broadcast live.
Reported Space, Friday (22/12/2023), Thursday’s departure (21/12/2023) was originally scheduled for December 14, but was postponed repeatedly due to bad weather in the zone splashdown.
The CRS-29 Dragon arrived at the space station on November 11 carrying nearly 3,000 kilograms of supplies for ISS astronauts, along with laser experiments. (CRS stands for “Comercial Resupply Services,” and this is the 29th mission that SpaceX has flown to the ISS for NASA.)
Dragon brought back about 1,588 kg of science materials and hardware to Earth, NASA officials wrote in a blog post last week. Also inside the Dragon were cargo bags, axle bearing hardware, and some junk.
Although Dragon is not the only cargo ship carrying out ISS activities, it is unique among other ships in that it is designed to survive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This capability allows researchers to retrieve science samples that require cooling, or receive hardware when it is not needed or requires repair to be sent back into space.
Two Russian cargo ships, Progress 85 and 86, are also docked with the space station at the moment, along with Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus-19 spacecraft. Other ISS ships currently docked are for the crew of SpaceX’s Crew-7 Dragon spacecraft, which is designed to carry four astronauts, and the Russian Soyuz MS-24 with three crew seats.
Source: Republic
2023-12-23 15:16:00
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